Back
Curator Ann-Marie Björk, Gävleborg County Administrative Board
Long
before articles about decorating began to appear in popular magazines,
the people of Hälsingland were skilled in the art of decorating rooms.
Hälsingland - a country of textile
The dark rag or rep rugs lay on the floors and the white, ethereal
valances hung in the windows, gathering the light and spreading it over
the room. The floors were dark and heavy, the windows and ceilings light
and airy.
It was the woman of the house who made its decorative textiles and its stores of linen. Her artistic endeavours showed off the farm's wealth and her own creative skills. As a young girl she had been initiated into the secret art of how to manufacture the textiles of a house. The linen was a woman's dowry. It is said that in the event of divorce, the woman was still regarded as the owner of the house's linen.
Flax and linen
Flax has been grown in Hälsingland since ancient times. During the
Middle Ages, flax and linen were important trading goods and the words
buldan, tuskaftad - a rather coarse linen - were the trading term used
for the most common type sold to the cities. Flax and linen were converted
into money. The money perhaps gave the chance to buy finery, or build
an even bigger house. But linen also found its place within the home,
and one can still sometimes enjoy the sight of packed linen cupboards
in Hälsingland. Sheets with hand-made lace, bolster cases with embroidery
on the top or carefully rippled ties, piles of towels in M´s and
O´s bearing the initials of their owner.
These treasures were stored in chests or walk-in closets. The bursting linen cupboard is characteristic of the late 19th century, but long before that, the people of Hälsingland used their linen to decorate interiors. There was apparently a custom - before the general use of wall painting at the end of the 18th century - of "clothing" the walls with white linen. White pieces of cloth, so called "knot covers" with panels of lace in the style of the Middle Ages, have been preserved in Ovanåker parish. The custom of covering the walls with white cloth has survived to our times in the summer sheiling cottages.
The sheilings came to be the place of retreat for previous fashions from
the big house. There used to be a certain surplus of linen. As early as
the 17th century, a rag paper factory opened in the province. The paper
mill used linen rags as its main raw material in making paper. The factory
had special rag collectors who made people hand over their rags. Here
one can see an early over-consumption of linen in the landscape. It was
not only for trading.
The master bed
The most important place for showing off the linen was the big bed, the
"master bed" as it was called. It was not for sleeping in, but stood as
a decoration in a strategic place in the house. On the bottom was a striped
ticking mattress filled with straw or sawdust. Over it a valance, with
the its long edge hanging along the bed down to the floor. The valance
was often decorated with lace, initials or red embroidery. On top of the
valance was a coarse bottom sheet, often a white woven rag cloth and over
it the cover itself, either a sheepskin or pile rug.
In the summer, the bed might be decorated with a white rag rug as a bedspread. All the tales of these big beds say that nobody was allowed to sleep in them, they were only there to be admired. The everyday beds were probably much simpler. We do not know much about what the everyday, simple bed looked like. It was not until some way into the twentieth century that the beds began take on the appearance we know today. They began to use quilted covers, sprung mattresses, top sheets and rectangular pillows.
The
rag rug
The thought of rag rugs often conjures up the scent of sugar soap and
the feel of wooden floors worn smooth by the years. Rag and rep rugs made
their entrance in the mid-19th century, apparently at the time when rag
collection was no longer obligatory (it ended in the 1820s). The rags
stayed at home, and the idea was born of decorating the floors with rugs
woven from rags.
The colours of the rugs were those of the clothes just out of fashion.
The rugs were often narrow, thin and lightweight, but despite this they
stayed in place on the pine floors. They often had broad, dark fields,
"bottoms", which were livened up here and there with colourful stripes.
The rag and rep rugs in the Hälsingland farmhouses show a genius for colour
composition.
Curtains
It is usually said that curtains had their breakthrough in the mid-19th
century in Hälsingland. It is probable that white, machine-woven and easily
available cotton curtains were very common at the time.
A close look at estate inventories from the 18th century reveals that a surprising number of Hälsingland farmers had curtains at that time. They were hung in overnight cottages, brewery cottages and festival cottages. Perhaps the curtains functioned as screens rather than decorations. They were often small and hung from halfway down the window, with a small valance at the top of the window. The valance was often pinned onto a slightly convex wooden pelmet. Long curtains were not common until the end of the 19th century.
Tablecloths for all occasions
The linen cupboards often contain long linen tablecloths. They were put
on the tables of the festival cottages on special occasions such as weddings,
funerals, christenings and sessions on the catechism with the parish priest.
They were woven from 100% or 50% linen, and were woven in twill, bird's
eye or goose eye. The rich farmers put out wooden plates, tin platters,
silver goblets and a glass or two. Parties could last for days and sitting
down to eat at the table was the most important part. There are often
piles of yellowing towels in the linen cupboards of Hälsingland. The towel
is a fairly recent innovation. One's apron or an old rag was usually used
for drying hands. Dishes were piled up and left to dry.
But with growing wealth and bourgeois ideas of cleanliness and hygiene,
the towel became modern in the 19th century. It was often woven in various
qualities depending on how it was to be used. Cotton had its breakthrough
in the mid-19th century. It was easily available, easy to care for and
came to play a large role in decorating and in the linen cupboard. Weaving
in "half-cotton" was popular. Cotton was exclusive and expensive. It was
easy to dye and "Turkish red" came into fashion. Cotton was embroidered
with Järvsö- or Delsbo embroidery to decorate the visible parts of bedding
with this new fashion. The red against the white was modern and effective!
Flors Linnemanufaktori
In 1729, a linen factory, "Flors Linnemanufaktori", was founded in
Hälsingland in the parish of Mo. The factory had a government grant and
its main task was to weave tablecloths and napkins in damask and check
weave for the nobility and royalty of Sweden. Many people were involved
with the factory, not least through the teaching which was done there
and throughout the province. There was a wish to improve the whole chain
of cultivation, preparation and weaving. Flors Linnemanufaktori contributed
to an enormous improvement in the quality of treatment of linen in Hälsingland.
The factory closed in 1845.
A
neglected cultural treasure
There are still enormous amounts of linen in Hälsingland. Flax was
grown and prepared and linen hand-woven in the province until the period
between the World Wars. After the Second World War, the long chain of
knowledge came to an abrupt end. What is unique is that there are people
still alive who were involved in all the stages when they were young.
But it was no longer profitable to grow flax, and cotton was cheaper and
more easily available than previously. Machine weaving made its breakthrough
and suddenly one stood eye to eye with towelling and duvet covers which
needed no mangling.
Most people today find the new materials easy to care for. Few young unmarried women collect linen in their bottom drawer. Their urges to create and collect find new outlets. People have forgotten the sensual feel of cold-mangled, cool, rustling linen sheets. Who today can manage a heavy mangle that can give linen the right shine? It is sad to see the rich treasure trove of linen sold off at shamefully low prices at local auctions.